Avatar: The Twins
by jkmrsy
Summary: What if Aang wasn't the last airbender? What if he had a twin sister that managed to survive for a hundred years? And more importantly, what if the were the world's first dual avatars?
1. The Boy in the Iceberg

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its creatures or characters! I only own the people that come out of my head. Get it? Got it? Good!

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**Katara's P.O.V.  
**Katara and her brother, Sokka, were floating gently in their canoe in the waters of the South Pole. She was rolling her eyes at his latest attempt at fishing. Did he never learn? He had his spear held slightly above his head while he stared at the water.

"It's not getting away from me this time. Watch and learn Katara. This is how you catch a fish," he said.

Katara stared at him, giving his back a clear look that said 'yeah right'. Then a fish swam by her. She took off one of her gloves and sighed, looking nervously at the fish. She concentrated on what she had taught herself and the fish was lifted into the air in a bubble of water. "Sokka, look!" she said in surprise as she bended the water bubble around.

"Shh! Katara, you're gonna scare it away! I can already smell it cooking..." he whispered to her. She continued bending it above their heads. "But Sokka, I caught one!" she said. Of course, the idiot ignored her and raised his spear anyway, effectively popping the bubble. The water splashed down on his head and Katara's fish flopped back down into the icy water.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Why is it that every time you play with magic water I get soaked?" Sokka asked in frustration.

Katara sighed. He was so annoying. Especially when he called it magic. "It's not magic! It's waterbending and it's-" "Yeah, yeah, yeah. An ancient art, unique to our culture, blah, blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had your powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself," he said, cutting his sister off. "You're calling me weird?" she asked. "I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water."

Then he put his arm down and covered it back up, frowning at her. He was about to say something when the canoe lurched. They had gotten caught in a current and were headed straight through a bunch of ice floes. "Go left! Go left!" Katara shouted at Sokka. He seemed to be trying his best, but the boat went right and into a crevice between two ice floes. Both of the siblings bailed out of the boat just before it was crushed. Now they were stranded. Great.

"You call that left?" Katara asked, sitting up. "You don't like my steering?" Sokka retorted. "Well, maybe you should have just waterbended us out of the ice." "So it's my fault?" Katara asked, standing up. "I knew I should have left you home! Leave it to a girl to screw things up!" Sokka huffed.

And that was the last straw. He had been getting on her nerves all day, but that was just it. "You are the most sexist, immature, nutbrained-!" She yelled, throwing her arms up. "I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!" Her arms flew with every sentence.

Sokka cringed. Good. He should be scared. "Uhh, Katara?" he squeaked.

"I even wash all of the clothes!" she yelled. "Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you! Not pleasant!" Katara threw her arms up and behind herself.

"Katara! Settle down!" Sokka warned her.

"No! That's it! I'm done helping you! From now on you're on your own!" she screamed.

Then Sokka gasped, looking over her shoulder. She turned around to see what he was looking at. The ice berg behind her fell apart and crumbled into the sea. She dropped to the ground as the waves produced by the falling ice pushed their ice floe back. Sokka held her close to him so she wouldn't fall off. As soon as the ice stopped, Sokka let her go and they both sat up.

"Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish Katara," he said. "You mean I did that?" the waterbender asked in amazement. "Yup. Congratulations," he said.

Then the water underneath them started to glow blue and bubble. The small circle of light grew. The siblings got up and stepped back. Seconds later, a huge spherical iceberg burst out of the water causing them to step back. Sokka stayed back as Katara took a step forward and looked at a dark spot in the ice. As her eyes focused, she noticed that the dark spot was a body! And there were glowing blue arrows on its head and hands. The person's eyes opened and they were glowing too!

"He's alive!" Katara said as she stumbled back. She immediately grabbed Sokka's club off of his back. "We have to help!" she said, running forward.

"Katara! Get back here!" Sokka yelled after her. "We don't know what that thing is!"

She ignored him and jumped across a few small ice floes to get to the iceberg. As soon as she got to the spot the body was at, she started beating at the ice. After hitting it a few times, a huge gust of air blew out of the hole and pushed her into her brother's arms. A crack formed from the hole and it ran up the iceberg. Then a huge beam of light flew into the sky.

**Zuko's P.O.V.  
**Zuko was watching in amazement as a beam of light rose into the sky. "Finally," he said under his breath. "Uncle! Do you realize what this means?" he said louder, gesturing to the light beam.

"I won't get to finish my game?" he asked, holding a card in the air before placing it on the small table in front of him. Stupid old man. "It means my search is about to come to an end," Zuko clarified. His uncle sighed.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!" the banished prince yelled.

"Or it's just the celestial lights," his uncle said, gesturing to the sky with a card in his hand. "We've been down this road before Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing," he continued, placing the card. "Please sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?"

"I don't need any calming tea!" Zuko yelled. Couldn't he just stop with the food and tea for once in his life? "I need to capture the Avatar! Helmsman! Head a course for the light!" he said pointing toward the beam.

**Katara's P.O.V.**  
The airflow stopped and Katara and Sokka unhuddled from each other. She stood and Sokka pointed his spear toward where the beam came from. The body-a young boy near her age-emerged from the top of the iceberg, his eyes and the arrows still glowing. He was bald and wearing a yellow suit with a red-orange belt, cape, and boots.

Sokka pointed his spear directly at him. "Stop!" he warned.

The boy ignored him and stood, the glow disappearing from his eyes and skin to reveal tattoos where the arrows had been. He fell forward and Katara ran up to catch him. She knelt down with him in her arms.

Sokka walked up and started poking at the boy's head with the back of his spear. "Stop it!" Katara said, pushing the spear away. She turned the boy over on his back. He slowly opened his gray eyes and then he gasped.

"I need to ask you something," he whispered. "What?" she asked. "Please, come closer," the boy said. She complied and leaned in a little. "What is it?" Then he got a huge, child-like smile on his face. "Will you go penguin sledding with me?" he asked. That took her by surprise. She leaned back to a sitting position. "Uh, sure. I guess," she said, still confused.

He jumped up to his feet, but too slowly to be a jump. The air blew around his clothes. Sokka jumped back and aimed his spear at the boy again. "What's going on here?" the boy asked. Katara got up as he took a look around.

"You tell us!" Sokka yelled. "How'd you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" he asked, poking him again. The boy absentmindedly shooed the weapon away as he spoke. "I'm not sure," he said. Then he gasped and scrambled up the iceberg to where he had emerged. Katara and Sokka walked around the other side instead of hiking up.

She heard the boy speaking to someone. "Appa! Are you alright? Wake up buddy!" he was saying. A few moments later she heard him laugh. "You're okay!" Then the two siblings made it around the iceberg. There was a huge furry animal of some kind that the boy was with. "What is that thing?" Sokka asked in shock.

The boy pet the beast as he talked. "This is Appa, my flying bison," he explained. "Right," Sokka said skeptically. Then he pointed to her. "And this is Katara, my flying sister," He was horrible with the sarcasm. And jokes for that matter.

Then the bison sneezed and the boy ducked. Sokka on the other hand didn't move at all and ended up covered in snot. He started making various 'ew' type noises as he attempted to wipe himself off with his gloves and in the snow. Right, that seemed to be working... "Don't worry, it'll wash out," the boy said. Apparently Sokka wasn't the first person to have this problem. He just held his glove from his face, with snot connecting the two.

"So, do you guys live around here?" the boy asked. Sokka pointed his spear at him again. "Don't answer that!" he warned. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy," he said, getting up. "Oh yeah I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye," Katara said sarcastically. The boy smiled very innocently.

"The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. You never told us your name," she said. "I'm ahh, ahhh-" the boy started. The two stared at him. He sneezed toward the ground and then he blasted upwards into the air! A few seconds later he slid back down the side of the iceberg to his previous spot. "I'm Aang!" he said. Then he rubbed his nose with his finger and smiled like nothing happened.

"You just sneezed," Sokka said pointing up, "and flew ten feet in the air!" "Really?" Aang asked looking up. "It felt higher than that," It all clicked together in the waterbender's head and she gasped in shock. "You're an airbender!" she said. "Sure am," Aang said. "Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders. I think I've go midnight sun madness," Sokka said before walking away. "I'm going home to where stuff makes sense," he said. Then he made it to the edge of the iceberg and realized that the sea was in the way.

"Well if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift," Aang said, jumping on Appa's head. "We'd love a ride!" Katara said. "Thanks!" "Oh no. I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster," Sokka protested.

Aang was helping Katara up onto Appa's back and into the saddle. Right. Well then, he could stay there and freeze. But he was her brother-a good reason to leave him-and she decided to let him know the situation. Sort of. "Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know, before you freeze to death?" she asked.

He stared at Appa and lifted his hand. He began to respond, but couldn't come up with anything and sighed. He trumped over to the bison and scrambled up. He flopped over in the saddle and then scooted to the back and crossed his arms. Well, he was clearly unhappy. She smiled-mostly due to excitement.

"Okay first time flyers hold on tight! Appa, yip yip!" Aang said. He snapped the reigns. Appa jumped up, and slowly crested the top of it. That slow crest gave her butterflies. Then, he fell forward and landed with a splash in the water. "Come on Appa, yip yip," Aang said again, snapping the reigns. Katara crawled forward to him.

"Wow, that was truly amazing..." Sokka said sarcastically. He was obviously bored and skeptical.

"Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky," Aang said making a flying kind of motion with his hand. "You'll see."

Katara was sure that she would eventually see the bison fly. She started to turn around to crawl back into the saddle, when she noticed Aang smiling. It was a little creepy that he wouldn't stop. "Why are you smiling at me?" she asked. He stopped. "Oh, I was smiling?" he asked. Sokka groaned in the back.

**Aang's P.O.V.**  
Aang was lying on Appa's head as he floated through the frigid waters, headed toward Sokka's and Katara's village. He had a lot of things on his mind for a twelve year old boy. A few minutes later Katara crawled up to him from Appa's saddle.

"Hey," she said. "Hi. Whatcha thinking about?" he asked her. "I guess I was wondering, you being an airbender and all if you had any idea what happened to the avatar?" she asked. That hit him like a bucket of cold water. He hoped the shock didn't show on his face. "Uhh, no," he said. "I didn't know him. I mean I knew people that knew him but I didn't. Sorry." "Okay. Just curious. Night," she said. "Sleep tight," he replied as she retreated into the saddle again.

The young airbender turned over and frowned. If only she knew. Hell, he knew the avatar better than anyone else. That's why he didn't tell her that he knew him. For one, the avatar didn't want to be who he was in the first place. Soon, Aang fell asleep to troubling thoughts.

That wasn't a good idea. He woke up in a dream. It was that night that he fell into the ocean. He was sleeping in Appa's saddle with his staff across his chest. A flash of lightning and the loud roar of thunder startled him out of his sleep. He sat bolt upright and gasped. Sometime in the night, he and Appa had gotten caught in a huge storm!

Aang yelled as he tried to steer the bison out of the area, but against his will, they ended up crashing into the water. The boy tried to hold his head above water, but he felt the current grab him and pull him under again. It was a lot for him. He were losing consciousness fast. Then his eyes and tattoos started to glow and he threw his fists together. A huge air bubble formed around him and Appa and the water froze around it, turning into the iceberg Katara and Sokka found them in.

"Aang!" a voice came. "Aang wake up!" He jumped awake and gasped. "It's okay. We're in the village now," Katara said, pointing behind her. "Come on get ready. Everyone's waiting to meet you."

She turned to leave, so Aang got up and grabbed his shirt. Man, it was freezing! He quickly pulled his shirt on and just as he got it over his head, Katara was tugging on his wrist and pulling him out of the tent. Then they came to a standstill. "Aang, this is the entire village," the girl said, gesturing to a group of about twenty people. "Entire village, Aang."

Wow. The airbender had really expected the Southern Water Tribe to be bigger. And have more men...It was mostly women and children. The only older boy was Sokka, and he was still kind of young. Aang bowed to the group and was confused when they acted like they were scared.

"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang asked, voicing his confusion as he checked himself over. No. No snot. What was it then?

An older woman stepped out of the group and came forward. "Well no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you," she said. "Extinct?" the airbender asked, now extremely confused. These people were either really secluded, or they had been living out in the cold for too long.

"Aang, this is my grandmother," Katara said, interrupting his thoughts. "Call me Gran Gran," the old woman said.

Then Sokka walked up to him and took the staff from him. "What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this," he said. Aang pulled the staff back using his airbending. "It's not for stabbing. It's for airbending," he explained, opening his glider which made Sokka flinch. A child from the tribe jumped up and clapped. "Magic trick! Do it again!" the child cheered. "Not magic; airbending," Aang said. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly!"

"You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly," Sokka said skeptically. Well then, this would be fun. As it always was when people haven't seen an airbender fly before.

"Check again!" the young monk said to Sokka as he put the glider on his back and took off. He flew around doing loops and various tricks, showing off for the people. They were all staring at him, pointing and marveling. He was smiling so much that his face was starting to hurt. Flying always lifted his spirits like that.

Then he flew headfirst into a snow tower. Damn! That was colder than the air! He quickly tried to dislodge himself. It took a few tries, but he was able to pull his head out and he and his glider fell to the ground in a pile of snow.

Katara ran up to him and Sokka gasped. "My watch tower!" he whined. "That was amazing!" Katara said as she helped Aang up. Sokka ran up to the pile of snow and started inspecting the tower before a heap of snow fell on him. "Great. You're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender. Together you can just waste time all day long," he said, getting up and walking off.

"You're a waterbender!" the airbender said to Katara in excitement. "Well, sort of. Not yet," she said modestly.

Then Katara's grandmother walked up to lead her away. "All right. No more playing. Come on Katara, you have chores," she said.

Then the two walked away and the kids ran up. They kept begging him to do something cool again. He knew how to make them laugh and as cold as it was, he had the perfect thing. Aang held his tongue out and licked his staff. It effectively got stuck. "See? now my tongue is stuck to my staff!" he said around the appendage. The children laughed and then one grabbed and pulled. Well, that hurt...

**Zuko's P.O.V.**  
The Fire Nation prince was holding his ground against two guards as his uncle watched the scene. "Again," Iroh said.

Zuko shot two balls of fire at the guards. One of them jumped while the other moved and retaliated. Zuko ducked out of the way of the attack. The other guard fired and jumped and twisted, as the prince sent flames at one of the guards with his fist and the other with his foot. Both of them dodged. Then it all stopped. The old man sighed and got up. What was it now?

"No. Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles," he said, making gestures. "The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire," he continued as he firebended right in front of the teenager's face. "Get it right this time."

"Enough," Zuko said in defiance. "I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set. I'm more than ready."

"No, you're impatient. You have yet to master your basics," his uncle said. He sat back down in his previous spot. "Drill it again!" he said, louder.

Zuko growled in frustration and then decided to take his anger out on one of his guards. He pulled off a firebending move in the opposite direction, hitting the guard. He turned back to his uncle. "The sages tell us that the avatar is the last airbender. He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements. I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You will teach me the advanced set!" he yelled at him.

"Very well," he agreed. Finally! "But first I must finish my roast duck," he said as he began eating. Oh, of course!

**Sokka's P.O.V.**  
Sokka was giving the boys of the tribe a lesson in battle. "Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. The Water Tribe: we fight to the last man standing," he said, raising one of his favorite weapons. "But without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" he asked.

One of the children raised his hand. "I gotta pee!" he said. Why did they have to be like that. "Listen! Until your fathers return from the war they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe, and that means no potty breaks!" Sokka snapped. "But I really gotta go!" he complained. Sokka sighed. "Okay, who else has to go?" he asked. All of the other boys raised their hands. Of course...He slapped his face as the kids walked off to the bathroom.

Katara walked up to him then. "Have you seen Aang? Gran Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago," she said confusedly. Good. The warrior hoped he wouldn't come back. But, his wish wasn't meant to be. The little annoyance walked out of the bathroom, holding his pants like he had just pulled them up. "Wow, everything freezes in there!" he said, making the boys laugh. "Ugh! Katara, get him out of here! This lesson is for warriors only!" Sokka yelled.

"Wee!" he heard a boy shout. He turned to see the kid slide off of that bison's tail and fly over his spear-resting sideways-and into a pile of snow. He immediately ran up to them.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" he yelled at the airbender as the kids ran past. "What's wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on!" he yelled. Did he seriously think that he could just waste time all day like that? The Fire Nation could attack at any moment! Katara walked up as he slid off of the bison.

"What war? What are you talking about?" he asked. "You're kidding right?" Sokka asked him in disbelief. Then the kid got this huge smile on his face. "PENGUIN!" he yelled. Then he was gone. "He's kidding, right?" Sokka asked his sister.

**Aang's P.O.V.**  
After chasing the penguin down Aang found that it had led him to a whole flock of them! Now he just had to catch one.

"Aang?" Katara's voice came. The boy laughed as he walked after one of the penguins. "Hey come on little guy! Wanna go sledding?" he asked, jumping at a penguin. He missed and landed in the snow. Then he rolled himself over and airbended himself up. "I have a way with animals," he said to Katara. Then he walked after one of the penguins, pretending to be one.

Katara laughed at him. "Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending," she said. Aang let go of the penguin that he was being dragged around by. "You got a deal! Just one little problem," he said, airbending himself up. "I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?" he asked.

Katara turned away from him with a sad look on her face. "No. You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole," she said sadly.

"This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water," he said. Then he had a thought. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there right? Maybe they have waterbenders who can teach you," he said.

"Maybe. But we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly turn right at the second glacier. It's on the other side of the world," she said.

"But you forget, I have a flying bison," the airbender said as he pointed to yourself. "Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're gonna find you a master!" "That's-I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before," she said, unsure of herself. "Well, you think about it. But in the meantime, can you teach me to catch one of these penguins?" Aang asked her.

"Okay, listen closely my young pupil," she said, bowing. "Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Observe," she pulled a fish out of her coat and threw it to him. He caught it and he was being swarmed by penguins before he knew it. He was laughing as the penguins crawled on top of him.

Minutes later, he and Katara had penguins and they were on their way downhill. Aang flew over a ledge and landed on a slope to continue his descent. He saw a ramp in the snow and went up and into the air. Katara went by on the ground and Aang flew over her and landed on the slope of the next ledge. Katara went over it and landed next to him, laughing.

"I haven't done this since I was a kid!" she yelled. "You still are a kid!" the airbender said to her.

He continued downhill and into a natural tunnel. The two of them swerved left and right to go up the sides. Aang airbended behind himself, making his penguin spiral around the tunnel and out, past Katara. She exited the tunnel behind him and the penguins slowed to a stop. The two got off of their penguins and walked up to the object that was there, casting a shadow.

"Whoa. What's that?" Aang asked, looking at the giant ship that was raised up in ice. "A Fire Navy ship. A very bad memory for my people," Katara explained.

He took a few steps toward it. "Aang stop! We're not allowed to go near it. The ship could be booby trapped," she warned. He turned around to look at her. "If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear," he said. Katara seemed to agree, seeing as she walked up to him. He smiled and continued forward, letting the waterbender follow him.

They climbed up the ice and Aang helped Katara into a break in the ship's hull. They were walking through the ship, exploring the different rooms. Then Aang stopped at room full of weapons and went in to explore. Katara followed him in. "This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran Gran was a little girl. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks," she said.

"Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world. Even in the Fire Nation," he said, picking up a random weapon to examine it. "I've never seen any war." This was all so confusing. Why was everyone talking about a war? And why did Katara's grandmother say that airbenders were extinct? Aang had left home only a couple of days ago.

"Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?" Katara asked, interrupting his thoughts. He put the weapon back where he found it. "I don't know. A few days maybe," he said. "I think it was more like a hundred years!" she said in amazement. "What? That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve year old man to you?" the young airbender asked, turning to face Katara.

"Think about it," she said. "The war is a century old. You don't know about it because you were in there that whole time. It's the only explanation." Aang was horrified. It must have been true. It actually made sense! He grabbed his head and sat down. "A hundred years! I can't believe it," he said in despair.

Katara put her arm around him. "I'm sorry Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this," she said. "I did get to meet you," he said, smiling slightly. She smiled back. "Come on. Let's get outta here," she said, helping him up.

They walked through the rest of the ship for the next couple of hours. "Aang, let's head back. This place is creepy," she said when the two of them walked into the highest room in the ship. "Huh?" Aang said. His foot had caught on a wire hidden in the snow. A grate to fell over the door they just came in. They ran to the door and grabbed the grate. "What's that you said about booby traps?" he asked.

A mechanism went off, sending a flare hundreds of feet into the air. He ran to the window to look. That was bad. "Uh-oh," he said. He looked up to see a hole in the roof. "Hold on tight!" he said. Then he grabbed Katara and leapt through the hole.

**Zuko's P.O.V.**  
Zuko was looking through a telescope when he saw a red light. It was a flare from an old Fire Navy ship. He quickly moved the direction of the telescope downward to see one figure carrying another out of the top of the ship. He was leaping down in a fashion that only an airbender could.

"The last airbender. Quite agile for his old age," the prince said to himself. He turned and pointed to a soldier. "Wake my uncle!" he yelled. "Tell him I've found the avatar," he said, quieter.

He looked back into the telescope to see the avatar put the other person down. Then they started running. He turned the telescope in the direction they were moving. He saw something and then turned it back. A village..."As well as his hiding place" he said.


	2. The Avatar Returns

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its creatures or characters! I only own the people that come out of my head. Get it? Got it? Good!

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**Sokka's P.O.V.**  
Sokka looked up into the sky with the rest of the villagers to see a yellow flare falling in the distance. Then he looked down towards the horizon. Katara was running up with that kid on her heels.

The kids cheered and ran up to him. Sokka pushed past people and stepped out of the group. "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare!" he said, pointing to the traitor. "You're leading them straight to us aren't you?!"

"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident," Katara yelled.

"Yeah. We were on this ship and there was this booby trap and well, we-we boobied right into it," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Gran Gran walked up with Sokka. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!" she scolded.

The airbender held his hands up. "Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault," he said.

"Ah ha!" Sokka said, pointing at him. "The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy. The foreigner is banished from our village!" he said. The kids whined and walked away from him. "Sokka, you're making a mistake," Katara said. "No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad!" he said, pointing to himself. "I'm protecting you from threats like him!" This time he pointed to the traitor. He refused to even bother learning his name.

"Aang is not our enemy! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun" Katara said. "Fun?" Sokka asked. "We can't fight firebenders with fun!" The boy smiled. "You should try it sometime!" he said. Sokka had had enough of him. Enough for one day, and enough for one lifetime. "Get out of our village! Now!" he yelled at him.

"Grandmother, please! Don't let Sokka do this," Katara pleaded. "Katara you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves," Gran Gran said, backing her grandson up.

"Fine! Then I'm banished too!" Katara yelled. She turned to the airbender. "Come on Aang, let's go!" She started dragging him to the bison. "Where do you think you're going?!" Sokka yelled at her. "To find a waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!" she yelled back. "I am? Great!" the boy said.

"Katara! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" the water tribe boy asked his sister, playing the guilt card. That usually worked on Katara.

She was quiet and everyone was still, waiting for her to say something. The boy walked up to Katara. "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family," he said. He walked past her and to his bison. Katara stepped toward him. "So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" she asked. "Thanks for penguin sledding with me," he said. "Where will you go?" she asked him. "Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders," he said.

Sokka couldn't believe that this kid couldn't figure out that there were no airbenders. He was an idiot.

"Wow. I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that," he said. Then he jumped on the bison's head. "It was nice meeting everyone," he said. "Let's see your bison fly now air boy," Sokka said to him. "Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip yip!" he said, snapping the reigns. His bison got up and stood there. "Yeah I thought so!" Sokka said.

A girl ran out past him, crying out and stopped next to Katara. "Aang, don't go. I'll miss you," she said. He frowned. "I'll miss you too," he said. Yeah right...He looked at Katara for a second and then he slowly turned away. "Come on boy," he said. The bison turned and walked away, over the horizon.

Katara and the girl watched. A few seconds later, the girl whined and walked away. Gran Gran walked up and went over to Katara. "Katara, you'll feel better after you-" Katara spun around to face her. "You happy now?!" she yelled, cutting Gran Gran off. "There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!" Then she stormed off.

Gran Gran watched her go back to the village. Sokka on the other hand, was getting everyone rallied together. "Alright! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!" he said. One of the boys stopped and turned to him, raising his hand and dancing around. "But I gotta-" "And no potty breaks!" he said, pointing into the village walls.

He ran inside the walls and into his tent. He pulled on his gloves and wrapped them up. He was putting on his boots and putting face paint on for battle. He put his boomerang on his back. The fire on his lantern blew and he grabbed his machete and ran out of the tent.

He climbed up to the top of the village walls and kept a lookout for the Fire Navy. Soon he spotted something through the fog. The ground started to shake and the wall started to crack. The boy looked to his right to see his watch tower crumble and fall. "Oh man!" he complained. A giant shadow formed and got bigger as the ship moved closer. "Oh man!" he whispered in horror.

The ship got closer. The ice cracked as it advanced, not slowing as it hit land. "Sokka! Get out of the way!" Katara yelled from behind him. He ignored her and held up his machete. The ship stopped inches from him. The wall crumbled and the snow fell back, taking the water tribe boy with it. He relaxed his stance slightly as front of the ship opened up. He stumbled back as the ramp came down and fell backwards when it hit the ground.

A group of firebenders emerged from the ship. The front one with a scar on his left eye looked to be the one in charge. He was going first. Sokka ran forward, yelling with his machete held back to strike. The firebender kicked the machete out of Sokka's hand and then his foot hit the boy in the opposite direction. He hit the snow face first.

He struggled to pull himself out of the snow. When he finally pulled himself free after a few seconds he grabbed his machete and ran toward the firebender, yelling. He ducked and threw Sokka over him. Then a blast of fire came at him from the other's fist. He rolled out of the way and threw his boomerang at him. He dodged and watched it disappear behind him. Then he turned back and glared at the younger one.

One of the boys was holding Sokka's spear. "Show no fear!" he said, tossing it to the oldest boy of the tribe. He caught the sear and then got up and ran again. The firebender broke it in two places and then ripped it out of Sokka's grip. He then poked him repeatedly with the back end until he fell over. So that's what it must have felt like to the airbender. Sokka was rubbing his head when his boomerang came back and hit the enemy in the back of the head. He glared at the boy and fire formed in his fists.

**Aang's P.O.V.**  
Aang rushed in on the back of a penguin and right under the firebender. The kids were cheering as he went past them. The turn he pulled off covered them in snow and they stopped for a second, but continued cheering again. He came to a stop in front of the tribe and the penguin bucked him off. It got up and walked away as he smiled at it.

"Hey Katara! Hey Sokka!" he said. "Hi, Aang. Thanks for comin'," Sokka said. That shocked Aang. Sokka never used his name before.

Then he was being surrounded and he got into a fighting stance with his staff pointed at the scarred firebender. He swung his staff to blow the snow at the group of soldiers. Then he threw the front end to the ground, blowing the snow at the main one. Aang stood up and held his staff upright. "Looking for me?" he asked.

The scarred boy was melting the snow on his head and shoulders. "You're the airbender? You're the avatar?" he asked in disbelief. Sadly that was true. Sort of...Aang had a sister-the only girl that stayed in the Southern Air Temple-that was also the avatar. She and Aang were the only twin avatars in the history of the world. Only the other monks at the temple even knew about her. But she was long gone by now...It had been a hundred years since he left.

"Aang?" Katara asked. "No way..." Sokka said.

The airbender and the firebender circled. "I spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" he said. Aang stopped and stood straighter. "Well you're just a teenager," he said.

He sent two fireballs at the monk and the latter spun his staff to airbend the fire away. He sent more fireballs while Aang continued to extinguish them. The fire flew above his staff as he spun it and got close enough to the villagers to make them cry out. Aang looked back in horror. He didn't want them to get hurt, so he stopped.

"If I go with you will you promise to leave everyone alone?" he asked, holding his staff forward. The firebender nodded and dropped his stance. Guards came from each side of Aang and grabbed him, one taking his staff. They led him toward the ship.

"No, Aang don't do this!" Katara yelled from behind him. He turned to look back. "Don't worry Katara. It'll be okay," he said to reassure her. The guards pushed him up the ramp. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!" he said.

"Head a course for the Fire Nation! I'm going home," the firebender said as he entered the ship before the rest of the group.

Aang turned to look back and smile reassuringly at the villagers. His smile turned to a frown as the ship closed up. He wasn't frowning because he was worried about himself though. He would be fine. His thoughts earlier had made him think about his twin. He was really starting to miss her. He just wasn't in tears because his mind was still trying to reject the idea.

**Katara's P.O.V.**  
Everyone was going about business as usual, cleaning up but seeming depressed. Katara was standing on the edge of the ice and staring out at were the Fire Nation ship had taken Aang. Sokka was behind her.

"We have to go after that ship Sokka. Aang saved our tribe, now we have to save him!" she said. "Katara I-" he started. "Why can't you realize he's on our side?!" she said, cutting him off. "If we don't help him, no one will! I know you don't like Aang, but we owe him-" "Katara! Are you gonna talk all day or are you coming with me?" he said, gesturing toward a canoe.

Katara gasped in joy. "Sokka!" she said, running to her brother and hugging him. "Get in! We're going to save your boyfriend," he said. "He's not my-" Katara protested. "Whatever," he said.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Gran Gran asked from behind them. Katara and Sokka turned around and smiled as innocently as they could. Then Gran Gran held up a roll of sleeping bags and smiled. "You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you," she said. Katara looked at Sokka to find him looking at her.

"It's been so long since I've had hope. But you brought it back to life my little waterbender," she said, hugging Katara. Then she turned to Sokka. "And you, my brave warrior. Be nice to your sister." Katara smiled at that. Not like he was going to completely listen. "Yeah, okay Gran," he said as he was hugged.

"Aang is the avatar. He's the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his," Gran Gran said.

"There's no way we're gonna catch a warship with a canoe," Katara said. Then she heard a roar and looked to see Appa walking over the horizon. "Appa!" she yelled. "You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?" Sokka asked as she ran to the bison.

**Aang's P.O.V.**  
Aang's wrists had been bound after he was taken on the ship and his staff was taken. Now he was on deck with two guards behind him and the teenager he had been fighting was holding his staff and an old man was standing behind him.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, bing raised by monks. Take the avatar to the prison hold! And take this to my quarters!" the teen said, handing the staff to the old man. He handed it to another guard. "Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" he said before walking off.

Then one of the guards pushed Aang in the opposite direction. He was led down a flight of stairs and down a hall toward the prison hold. "So, I guess you never fought an airbender before. I bet I can take you both with my hands tied behind my back!" he taunted. "Silence!" the guard in front of him said.

Then they stopped at a door and the front guard grabbed a key from his belt. Aang inhaled as deep as he could and then blew the air out as the guard put the key in its hole. He was forced against the door and Aang was blown back into the guard behind him and then down the hall and into the stairs. He jumped up from under the deck and ran toward the first door he saw.

He still needed his staff, otherwise it would have been right off the ship. The airbender spun and kicked, sending a blast of air at the door and forcing it open. He continued to run down the hall. He glanced backward and heard a guard yelling "The avatar has escaped!" That wasn't helping him at all. He turned a corner and stopped at three guards in his path.

"You haven't seen my staff around have you?" he asked them. One of them moved his sword forward slightly. Aang airbended himself forward and spiraled around the walls, going under one of the guards in the process. "Thanks anyway!" he yelled back.

He saw a ladder by one of the walls and went up it and through an opening where another guard was standing. He firebended at the young avatar who jumped over the flames and guard. He flipped over the man, catching his bindings on a spike of his helmet, cutting the ropes and knocking him over. Now that his hands were free, Aang started opening doors to search. He couldn't find it anywhere!

One door he opened led to a bedroom where that old man was sleeping. "Sorry," the airbender whispered before shutting the door and continuing his search. He ran past an open door and stopped. He turned around and looked in the room and there it was! "My staff!" he said.

He ran into the room when the door closed behind him. "Looks like I underestimated you," a voice said. Aang stared at the scarred boy who had taken him prisoner. Then he sent a blast of fire at the boy. Aang dodged and the teen sent more fire. The airbender kept dodging and then he was cornered. Literally. The firebender sent more fireballs at Aang and he spun out of the way and slid under the older boy.

He attempted to hit the avatar again, but he was staying behind him. Eventually Aang was in front of him again. He made a small ball of air, which the teen punched through and Aang moved to the side. He ran up the other's chest and formed a ball of air under himself and he blasted a stream of fire behind the younger one. Aang flew around the room, ducking under a fire blast and went across the ceiling in an attempt to dodge his enemy.

He went past the boy and fell off of his air scooter. He landed next to a wall scroll and shot himself up, behind it, grabbing the top as he flipped over it. He went in circles around his opponent, wrapping him in the scroll. Aang ran to his staff and grabbed it. Then he spun around to face the other as he burned the scroll off and got in a fighting stance again.

Aang didn't waste any time. He used his staff to airbend the mattress into the firebender and a wall. It fell, with him on top of it. Then the boy threw them to the ceiling and ran out of the room.

It didn't take long for Aang to find the control room at the top of the ship. He flew through the hatch and ran out of the room and threw his glider off the balcony. He jumped off and grabbed it, soaring off. Then he heard the teen's yelling again right before he grabbed Aang's ankle, weighing him down. He struggled to maintain flight, but the teen's extra weight was too much and they crashed to the deck.

Aang got himself up and so did the firebender. Then the avatar heard a roar in the distance and glanced back. "What is that?" the teen asked. "Appa!" Aang yelled before turning back.

Fire was coming straight at him and he quickly spun his staff and stumbled back. He came to the edge of the ship and bent back over it, trying to regain his balance. More fire came his way and he deflected it again, but his staff was thrown from his grip with more fire on the way. He jumped backwards and landed on the edge of the ship. He tried to keep his balance, but the firebender sent more fire at him and knocked him off of the ship.

"Aang! No!" he heard Katara yell right before he hit the freezing water. Though he was unconscious, Aang heard her yelling his name as he sunk. Then his eyes and tattoos started to glow as he entered the avatar state.

He spun the water around himself and he burst through the surface at the tip of a massive spear of spinning water. The avatar landed on the ship in the middle of all of the firebenders and bended the water into a giant ring around himself. The ring expanded taking them all out at once and knocking the leader off of the ship. In that second Aang lost consciousness again and fell to the deck.

It didn't last long, and he woke in Katara's arms again. "Aang! Are you okay?" she asked. "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Thanks for coming," he said. "Well I couldn't let you have all the glory," Sokka said. "I dropped my staff," Aang said, ignoring Sokka's attempt at gloating. "Got it!" he said, running to get it.

**Sokka's P.O.V.**  
Sokka picked up Aang's staff only to find the firebender from earlier holding on to it. He tried to use it to climb back up onto the ship. The water tribe boy moved it back and forth to poke the other in the head repeatedly until he fell. Too bad he caught himself on the anchor though. "Hah! That's from the Water Tribe!" Sokka yelled down at him. He ran back toward Aang and Katara.

Aang was on Appa's head already and the guards are starting to advance on his sister. She started to waterbend what was left of Aang's attack and the guards stopped. She threw her arms around and froze the water behind her all the way to his feet. Now he couldn't move! "Katara!" he yelled at her.

Sokka grabbed his boomerang and started cutting away at the ice while Katara turned around and pulled the same move, this time freezing the guards. "Hurry up Sokka!" she yelled at him. Hurry up? She was the reason he was stuck in the first place. He had one foot free already. "I'm just a guy with a boomerang! I didn't ask for all this flying! And magic!" he mumbled to himself as he cut himself free. He ran up Appa's tail, tripping once on the way. "Yip yip! Yip yip!" he yelled.

The bison took off and soared away from the ship. "Shoot them down!" Sokka heard the firebender yell from behind them. He stared back in fear as a huge blast of fire headed their way. Aang ran past him and Katara with tail of his glider open and he swung it, causing a huge wave of air to divert the fireball into the side of a glacier. The impact and heat caused an avalanche to fall straight onto the ship.

The three of them laughed in victory as Appa flew farther away. Minutes later and they were miles away. Aang was sitting on the horn of the saddle, Katara was in the middle, and Sokka was reclined against the back. "How did you do that?! With the water! It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" Katara said. She was right. Sokka had never seen waterbending like that before.

"I don't know. I just sort of did it," Aang said.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" Katara asked. "Because...I never wanted to be," he said. The three were all silent for a second as they passed under a cloud. Then the sun broke through some others and warmed Sokka's face.

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the avatar to return and finally put an end to this war," Katara protested. "And how am I going to do that?" Aang asked her.

"According to legend: you need to first master water, then earth, then fire right?" she asked. "That's what the monks told me," Aang agreed. "Well, if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending!" she said. He smiled. "We can learn it together!" he said.

Katara turned to face her brother. "And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way," she said.

Sokka smiled as he contemplated it. "I'd like that. I'd really like that," he said.

"Then we're in this together," she said. Then Aang pulled out a map.

"Alright! But before I learn waterbending," he said, airbending himself down, "we have some serious business to attend to here, here, and here." He pointed to three spots on the map relatively close by.

"What's there?" Katara asked.

"Here, we'll ride the hopping llamas," he said, pointing to the first island. "Then way over here we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish! Then back over here we'll rid the hogmonkeys," he said, pointing to the other two places. Then he looked up and smiled. "They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" he said.


	3. The Southern Air Temple

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its creatures or characters! I only own the people that come out of my head. Get it? Got it? Good!

* * *

**Aang's P.O.V.**

The group had stopped for the night and while Katara and Sokka were sleeping, the young avatar had come to a realization. Airbenders couldn't be extinct. They had only secluded themselves from the world when the war started. It was impossible to get to the Air Temples on foot and if they stayed in seclusion, then of course no one saw them. Aang had gone to sleep, happy with his thoughts.

By the time morning came around, he was much more relaxed. He and Katara started packing up their individual things and storing them in the saddle on Appa's back. Then Aang went to fixing the reigns attached to the bison's horns.

"Wait til you see it Katara! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" he said. "Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home," she replied. "That's why I'm so excited!" Aang said, smiling. "It's just that, a lot can change in all that time," Katara said. "I know," Aang said. "But I need to see it for myself."

He jumped off of Appa's head and airbended himself to the ground. Sokka still seemed to be asleep. "Wake up Sokka! Air Temple here we come!" he said, walking over to the sleeping boy. Sokka groaned and turned over in response. "Sleep now. Temple later," he said before going back to sleep.

Aang frowned. He was ready to go now! And he was trying to show them where he grew up. Then an idea popped into his head. He grinned mischievously. He picked up a nearby stick and started running it along Sokka's sleeping bag. "Sokka! Wake up!" he yelled frantically. "There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"

Sokka's eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, still in the sleeping bag and started yelling and jumping around. "Get it off! Get it off!" he said. Then he tripped and fell face first into the ground. Katara laughed at her brother's strife. "Great! You're awake! Let's go!" Aang smiled. Sokka scowled in return, but shuffled into the open air. He complained the whole time he packed up and as he scrambled into the saddle. Katara followed suit.

Aang jumped up to Appa's head and grabbed the reigns. "Appa, yip yip!" he said. With a wave of his tail the bison took to the sky. A few minutes later the comfortable silence was interrupted by Sokka's growling stomach. "Hey, stomach, be quiet all right? I'm trying to find us some food," he said, before digging through some sacks. A few seconds later Aang heard him yell in dismay. "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?!" Oops...

"Oh, that was food?" Aang said, turning to the Water Tribe boy. "I used it to start the campfire last night." He sheepishly turned away. "Sorry." "You what?!" Sokka yelled. "Aw, no wonder the flames smelled so good..."

Just then, an expanse of mountains appeared on the horizon, jutting out of the clouds. This was it! "The Putalla Mountain Range! We're almost there!" Aang said excitedly.

"Aang, before we get to the temple I wanna talk to you about the airbenders," Katara said softly. "What about 'em?" Aang asked. He was getting slightly annoyed at her insisting that all of the airbenders were dead, not that he showed it on his face at all. It was true what she said about a lot being able to change in a hundred years, but that didn't mean that his entire race was gone. He would have to let her know that. Although, the statement did make him wonder what things would be like just one year from now.

Katara continued talking, not noticing the second of thought that went by. "Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see," she said, turning away. "The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother." She turned back to him. "They could have done the same to your people."

"Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped," Aang said matter-of-factly.

Then Katara's arm was around his shoulders. "I know it's hard to accept," she said. "You don't understand Katara!" Aang said in an upbeat tone. "The only way to get to an airbender temple in on a flying bison and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison! Right Appa?" he said, rubbing the bison's head. He roared in agreement.

"Yip yip!" Aang said. And with that they soared up the mountain side and right between two peaks. Then they turned and went up and up and up until they reached the top where the trees were. And there it was! The Southern Air Temple with all its beauty. The winding paths and the buildings spiraling upwards as if they grew from the mountain itself. "There it is," Aang said. "The Southern Air Temple!"

"Aang it's amazing!" Katara said.

"We're home, Buddy. We're home," he said to Appa.

**Zuko's P.O.V.**

This was infuriating! How could a twelve year old boy have done this to a Fire Nation ship? Even a small one like the one Zuko owned. As soon as they were docked the young prince stormed off the ship followed by his uncle. "I want repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail," Zuko said.

"You mean the avatar?" Iroh asked.

"Don't mention his name on these docks," Zuko said, whirling on his uncle. "Once word gets out that he's alive every firebender will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" a voice called from behind him.

He and Iroh turned to see one of the men that Zuko held a special hatred for. "Captain Zhao..." he said. It sounded more like a curse word than a name.

"It's Commander now," he said almost smugly. "And General Iroh, great hero of our nation." He bowed as he said it. "Retired General," Iroh corrected as he bowed back. "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests any time," Zhao said. Zuko could tell he was lying. "What brings you to my harbor?" he continued. "Our ship is being repaired," Iroh said as he gestured to the vessel they had just come from.

"That's quite a bit of damage," Zhao said, now seeming more interested. "Yes," Zuko said, before it could be let out that the avatar did it. "You wouldn't believe what happened. Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened."

"Yes, I will do that...It was incredible!" he said. Then he leaned over and whispered to his nephew. "What? Did we crash or something?" "Yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship," Zuko said. Curse his inability to lie effectively.

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details," the Commander said sarcastically. Then he looked very tauntingly at Zuko. "Care to join me for a drink?" he asked. "Sorry, but we have to go," the prince said, turning to leave.

His uncle grabbed him, preventing him from escaping. "Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect," he said, as if the other man actually deserved it. Then he turned to said man. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It is my favorite." Zuko grumbled to himself and spun angrily to follow the men, sending fire from his fists.

Minutes later they were in a tent and they were talking like all old people do. This and that and everything under the sun that was as useless as ever. Zuko sat angrily in a chair while his uncle inspected some weapons set up. "And by years end the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule," Zhao said from behind him.

Zuko had zoned out in all of the rambling and finally came back to himself when he picked up on the last bit of the Commander's sentence. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war," he said.

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" Zuko said as Zhao sat next to him. "Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue," Zhao said. "So, how's your search for the avatar going?" Just then, Zuko noticed his uncle knock over the rack of weapons he was examining. Whether he did it on purpose or not, the teen couldn't tell. "My fault, entirely," Iroh said, backing away.

"We haven't found him yet," Zuko said, not missing a beat. "Did you really expect to? The avatar died a hundred years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders," Zhao said. Zuko blinked and shifted his gaze. Zhao noticed it too. "Unless you found some evidence that the avatar is alive," he said suggestively, with an evil smirk growing on his face.

"No, nothing," Zuko said. "Prince Zuko," Zhao said, getting up, "the avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Lord from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left you'll tell me what you've found." Zuko refused to look at him, knowing that his gaze would probably give him away. "I haven't found anything," he said, now confident enough to look. "It's like you said, the avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle. We're going," Zuko said, getting up and walking to the exit.

The guards there crossed their spears in front of him, preventing him from going anywhere. Well, peacefully at least. Another of Zhao's men walked by. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the avatar in custody, but let him escape," the man said.

"Now, remind me," Zhao said, walking up behind the banished prince. "How exactly was your ship damaged?"

**Katara's P.O.V.**

When Appa had landed Aang was on the ground before Katara could get a chance to blink. When she and Sokka were finally down, the hyperactive airbender was rushing them up the pathway. Aang ran ahead and the siblings followed him.

"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked as they rounded a corner. "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?" she asked. Seriously, what was wrong with him? "I'm just a simple guy with simple needs!" Sokka replied as they caught up to where Aang had stopped.

"So that's where my friends and I would play air ball!" Aang said, pointing down to a large field that consisted of many poles sticking out of the ground and two goals, one at each end. "And over there's where the bison would sleep," he said, pointing to a cave system. "And..." he stopped and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked. "This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison," Aang said. "Now there's just a bunch of weeds. I can't believe how much things have changed."

The siblings stared at each other before Sokka turned to look at the avatar. "So, uh, this air ball game. How do ya play?" he asked walking up to the other boy. Katara followed. Aang smiled.

Within minutes Katara was watching her brother face off against her new friend. He was failing miserably. Aang had already scored six goals, and Sokka was just trying to keep his balance. Aang was spinning the ball using airbending and did a few tricks before sending it into the air. Sokka's gaze followed. He was doomed.

When the ball came back down Aang sent a wave of air in a kick, causing the ball to surge forward and bounce off of the various poles. Before Sokka could attempt any move to return the ball it flew right into him, sending him straight through the spinning goal and into a pile of snow on the ground. Aang burst out laughing. "Aang seven! Sokka zero!" he said in victory.

"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt," Katara's brother said, getting up. Then he stopped and crawled forward instead. Katara followed him. "Katara, check this out," Sokka said. It was an old Fire Nation helmet. They were here... "Fire Nation," she said accusingly. "We should tell him," Sokka said.

"Aang," the young waterbender said, turning to get the boy's attention, "there's something you need to see." "Okay!" Aang said, running to them, bending the ball around him. She couldn't do this to him. Not when he was so happy again. She bended the snow down from the alcove above the helmet, burying it and Sokka. "What is it?" Aang said as Sokka brushed the snow off of his head. "Uh, just a new waterbending move I learned," she said innocently. "Nice one! But enough practicing; we've got a whole temple to see!" he said turning away.

"You know you can't protect him forever," Sokka accused. And he was right, but she just looked down and walked away. Aang took them to another location and as soon as he was out of earshot Sokka was lecturing her again. "Katara, firebenders were here. You can't pretend they weren't," he said. He ignored the fact that she was walking away and followed her. "I can for Aang's sake," she said. "If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home he'll be devastated."

"Hey, guys!" Aang yelled, making them stop. "I want you to meet somebody," he said, gesturing to a statue of a monk. "Who's that?" Sokka asked. "Monk Gyatzo, the greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know," Aang explained. He bowed to the statue.

"You must miss him," Katara said, resting her hand on the young boy's shoulder when he came out of his bow. "Yeah," he said. Then he walked off.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "The Air Temple sanctuary," he said, stopping for a moment. "There's someone I'm ready to meet." Then he continued.

Katara looked back at her brother who shrugged, knowing about as much as she did in this case. They followed him. They came to a large door with a tree root growing over the top of it and two horns spiraling on it with three circular blocks of wood interrupting their paths. "But Aang, no one could have survived in there for a hundred years," the waterbender said. "It's not impossible," Aang said. "I survived in the iceberg for that long." "Good point," she said.

"Katara, whoever's in there might help me figure out this avatar thing!" he said.

"And," Sokka added, "whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious, cured meats!" He ran at the door and didn't bother stopping. When it didn't budge he turned around and tried pushing against it. Then he slumped against it as he sunk to the ground. "I don't suppose you have a key?" he asked of Aang.

"They key, Sokka," Aang said, "is airbending."

When Sokka had moved out of the way Aang inhaled deeply and then stepped forward and sent two waves of air from his hands to the horns. The circular blocks turned, one by one, and connected the tubes. The door opened to a very dark room.

"Hello?" Aang called. "Anyone home?" He walked into the darkness and Katara and Sokka followed. The room was full of statues spiraling out from the center of the room and up along the walls. "Statues?!" Sokka said as they all walked among them. "That's it?! Where's the meat?!"

"Who are all these people?" Katara asked. "I'm not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow," Aang said. "Look! That one's an airbender!"

"And this one's a waterbender. They're lined up in a pattern! Air, water, earth, and fire," Katara said, pointing to each in turn. "That's the avatar cycle!" Aang said. "Of course!" Katara said. "They're avatars! All these people are your past lives, Aang!" "Wow! There are so many!" he said as he followed the spiral inward.

"Past lives?" Sokka snorted. "Katara, you really believe in that stuff?" "It's true! When the avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle," she said.

She turned and noticed Aang staring at the second to last statue in the line. He was almost in a trance. She went over to him and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "Aang, snap out of it!" she said. "Huh?" he said, confusedly. "Who is that?" she asked. "That's Avatar Roku, the avatar before me," he said immediately.

"You were a firebender?" Sokka asked walking up. "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."

"There's no writing," Katara said with a quick cursory glance at the statue. "How do you know his name?" "I'm not sure," Aang answered. "I just know it somehow." Sokka growled. "You just couldn't get any weirder!" he said.

Katara glanced to the side, ignoring her brother, and noticed another statue in the darkness. This one was of a girl, probably no older than herself. She was in a position different than the other statues. She had two fans that she held with one arm crossing her body at the waist and the other above her head.

Her clothing looked like that of an air nomad with pants and shoes very similar to Aang's, and a cloth that wrapped around her breasts. She had a double sash going over her left shoulder, one on top of the other. The bottom one fanned out around her waist into a shirt that was tucked into the belt on her pants. The top one was held together over her shoulder with a ring.

On each arm there was a band that wrapped around and each end spiraled off. Her hair was braided and a small ring was placed in her hair each time it intersected until a small ring-type charm attached to the end of her braid, cutting it off. She was beautiful.

"Aang?" Katara asked. "If Avatar Roku was the avatar before you, then why is there another statue here? Who is this?" The boys looked up to her. Aang glanced into the darkness and then his eyes widened in shock. He didn't say anything though. He just stared at her, as if he were in a trance again. But this one was different than with Roku; it seemed like he knew her personally.

"That's-" he started. Then the trio turned around at a noise behind them. They all dove behind statues. Sokka had a weapon out already. He peeked around his statue and then whispered to them. "Firebender. Nobody make a sound," he breathed. "You're making a sound!" Katara hissed before being shushed by the others.

"That firebender won't know what hit him," Sokka said, raising his club. He stood up as the shadow extended past the statues. Katara prayed that he would be okay. He lunged around the statue and froze with a dumbstruck look on his face. The two benders peeked out from behind their statue. A lemur. They all nearly had a heart attack for a lemur.

"Lemur!" Aang yelled. "Dinner!" Sokka said. "Don't listen to him! You're gonna be my new pet," Aang said, as if the lemur could understand him. "Not if I get him first!" Sokka said, lunging for the poor animal.

Aang lunged with him and toppled the older boy, stepping on his head as he chased after the fleeing lemur. Katara giggled to herself in her head. "Wait! Come back!" Aang yelled as Sokka got up and chased after him.

As the boys went chasing their prize, Katara sighed to herself and turned back to the statues. The one of the girl that Aang seemed to know was now more interesting than it was before. As she looked, the waterbender noticed subtle differences in this statue that the others didn't have. For instance, this one didn't look carved; it looked more like it was molded. And the stone was entirely different.

Katara took off a glove and scratched at the stone. It crumbled away almost instantly. When she tried it with the Roku statue nothing happened. She scratched at the statue of the girl again and another layer fell off. The next layer was a much lighter color than the stone. Katara prodded at it and it was soft, and warm...It was skin! There was a girl under here!

Then her eyes lit up. Katara backed away and noticed that Roku's eyes were lit too. Each statue's eyes started glowing and the stone around the girl started to crack. But right now, all Katara was concerned with was her friend. "Aang!" she said to herself, before turning to run.

**Ariani's P.O.V.**

After what she couldn't tell was seconds or years of darkness and sleep, Ariani felt a prod at the skin on her arm. She awakened. Her eyes and tattoos began to glow and, in the avatar state, she threw the stone surrounding her away.

She didn't know who had touched her, but she knew that something wasn't right. Air funneled around her as she rose up, off the floor. Then, she shot forward with a burst of wind behind her. She went through the long halls of the Air Temple and came out upon a balcony. She did not stop there. She continued into the air and then noticed movement to her lower right.

There was another airbender and what looked to be two Water Tribe people. They were shouting, though she couldn't make out the words over the wind and distance between them. She couldn't seem to find the source of danger, which worried her.

The last thing that she remembered was a few days after her twin brother was discovered to be missing, an army of firebenders attacked their temple. Her mentor had ushered her into the sanctuary where the avatar statues were located to keep her safe when a soldier located them and burned the monk.

She sent the soldier flying with a blast of air. Then she was told to stay where she was and the doors were sealed again. After a couple of hours there was a knock on the door. She had answered it in a stroke of idiocy and come face to face with a Fire Nation soldier. He attacked and, instead of retreating into the sanctuary, she ran.

Everywhere she looked Ariani saw death, and she had yet to see a living airbender. When she witnessed her mentor being blown down she had lost it. Of every firebender there, none escaped. When she was sure that they were all dealt with she flew back into the sanctuary and sealed the doors. She had encased herself in stone and then, slept.

Now she was feeling something that had triggered the avatar state again. The only thing she could possibly conclude with her last memory was that these Water Tribe people were causing some strife, or possibly even endangering, this surviving airbender.

As he sunk back to the ground the two moved over to him. Ariani rushed forward and as the boy collapsed into one of the Water Tribe's arms she felt lightheaded. The glow faded and she too, collapsed and fell out of the sky.

"Hey! Hey! Are you okay?!" a voice said, breaking through the haze. When she awoke, Ariani registered that she was being shaken. "Sokka, stop that! She's not a doll!" a girl said. "Huh?" Ariani mumbled.

Then she was being crushed in a hug. The boy hugging her was sobbing into her shoulder and the first thing she noticed was that this was the airbender she had seen before. The next thing that she noticed was that he was talking through his tears. "Ariani, I can't believe you're alive!" he said.

She gently patted his back and let him shed his tears. When he was done she held him at arm's length and smiled. "Aang...I'm glad you're home, but..." She stopped herself short and the smile faded. "Aang, they're all gone," she said. "I know," he frowned. "But where were you for the last hundred years?" he asked.

Ariani frowned in confusion. What was he talking about? "Aang I don't think she knows," the Water Tribe girl said. "That wasn't a statue in the sanctuary. She was encased in stone."

Aang looked back and then to his sister again. Then it hit her. Ariani was actually away from the world for a hundred years! But then how did Aang survive as a kid?

"Ariani, it's been a hundred years since we last saw each other. I was in an iceberg and you were a statue. We're the only airbenders left on earth," Aang said. "The last...on earth?" she whispered. Aang nodded. "But we still have each other. And Appa, too!" he said.

"Um, Aang? Not that I'm curious, being left out of the loop and all, but who is this?" the other boy asked. "Oh! Sorry Sokka!" Aang said, smiling at the other two. "Guys, this is my twin sister, Ariani. Ariani, this is Katara and Sokka." He gestured to first the girl and then the boy. So they were his friends then. Good thing she didn't attack them.

It was then that a lemur jumped on her shoulder and purred, rubbing up against her. "Hey little guy!" she smiled. "Food!" Sokka said. The lemur's fur stood on end and he ran down her back and around her side to hide in her sash. "You can't eat him!" Ariani said. Aang and Katara laughed.

Soon they decided that it was best to leave. Ariani was filled in on the war and that the group had been headed to the North Pole so that Aang and Katara could learn waterbending. Then they were planning on Aang learning earthbending and firebending so that he could defeat the Fire Lord and end the war. The Water Tribe siblings learned that Ariani and Aang were not only twins, but also the first and only dual avatars ever heard of. Now they were both going to learn the elements and save the world.

While they were packing up, Aang excused himself. Ariani knew her twin and that he liked to be alone to think, so she continued to load things into Appa's saddle while he did his thing. When they were done Katara went to get Aang while Ariani tried to find that lemur. She found him with two armfuls of fruit which he gave to Sokka. He immediately dug in.

"Looks like you made a new friend Sokka," Aang said, coming back with Katara.

"Can't talk. Must eat!" Sokka said before digging back into the fruit.

"Looks like we're all that's left of this place," Ariani said, walking up to her brother. "We have to stick together," he agreed. "Katara, Sokka, say hello to the newest member of our family." He gestured toward the lemur currently sitting on Ariani's shoulder.

"What are you gonna name him?" Katara asked as the lemur jumped at Sokka to steal a piece of fruit. "Momo!" Ariani said. Aang nodded as Katara laughed at the dumbstruck look on her brother's face. The twins joined in.

Then they all got into Appa's saddle and took off. Ariani was in the middle of checking over her fans and glider when she looked up to get a last glimpse of her home. Aang was doing the same thing. They watched until the tallest tower finally disappeared behind the clouds. It was a sad feeling, but in her heart Ariani knew that everything was going to be okay.


	4. The Warriors of Kyoshi

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its creatures or characters! I only own the people that come out of my head. Get it? Got it? Good!

* * *

**Zuko's P.O.V.**

The banished prince sat on a low bench in his room on the ship, facing the wall and meditating. The flames of the four candles on the small table in front of him undulated with his breathing, growing and shrinking as he inhaled and exhaled. The door opened behind him and he resisted the urge to sigh in annoyance.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me, is if you have news about the avatar," he said calmly.

"Well there is news, Prince Zuko," his uncle said. "But you might not like it. Don't get too upset."

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader," Zuko said calmly, sure that whatever it was that was wrong could not be that bad. "Now whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

"Okay then...We have no idea where he is," his uncle said.

The flames in front of the teen exploded high above his face. "What?!" he yelled, turning around and standing up.

The older man calmly unfolded a fan and waved it in front of his own face. "You really need to open a window in here," he said.

"Give me the map!" Zuko demanded, taking in from Iroh before he got the chance to hand it over.

"There have been multiple sightings of the avatar," Zuko's uncle said as the teen opened the map, "but he is impossible to track down."

"How am I gonna find him, Uncle?" Zuko asked, studying the crisscrossed pattern across the land and sea. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering." If he didn't know any better he would assume that the child just went where he pleased with no knowledge of being pursued whatsoever.

**Ariani's P.O.V.**

Ariani was sitting in Appa's saddle, leaning back so she was upside down and halfway out the side. Katara was sewing Sokka's pants while he was reading the map that the group had. Aang was sitting on Appa's head, steering the bison, while Momo sat on his shoulder.

"You have no idea where we're going, do you?" Sokka asked.

"Well, I know it's near water," Aang said.

"I guess we're getting close then," Sokka said sarcastically.

The group had been flying over the ocean for a few hours now. In the past few days they had visited a few different places, not really too focused on getting to the North Pole in a timely manner. It was more fun to jump from place to place anyway. Couldn't have much fun if you were too destination oriented.

"Momo, marbles please," Aang said, grabbing Ariani's attention. She sat up as the lemur dug into her brother's shirt. He rummaged around and popped out, placing the little metal balls in his hand.

"Hey Katara, check out this airbending trick!" he said excitedly. He then proceeded to bend the air into a small ring that the marbles flew around in. It was so cool!

"That's great Aang," Katara said absentmindedly.

"You didn't even look," Aang said, stopping the air flow.

Katara stopped sewing Sokka's pants for a moment to look down, over the saddle. "That's great," she said.

"But I'm not doing it now," Aang answered.

"Stop bugging her airhead," Sokka said with a wave of his hand. "You need to give girls space when they do their sewing."

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked.

"Simple," Sokka said. "Girls are better at fixing pants than guys. And guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."

"All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!" Katara exclaimed, throwing the partially finished trousers back at her brother.

Ariani looked and laughed a little. Sokka flailed and pulled the pants off of his face. "Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these! Katara please!" he begged as he stuck his arm through the hole.

"Relax Sokka!" Aang said. "Where we're going you won't need any pants!" He then steered Appa downward and to aim him toward a small, mountainous island.

"Aang! Show me that trick again!" Ariani said.

The boy turned back to her and smiled. He pulled the marbles up again and swirled the air into a spiral again. Before he could stop the spiral of air, Ariani started bending the air around herself and formed a small tunnel for the marbles to follow. They flew out of Aang's spiral and into hers. She laughed. "This is fun!" she said.

It was then that Appa roared, cutting off Aang's response. The bison landed and the group started to descend. Ariani stopped the marble trick and tossed them back at Aang, who had just jumped down. She looked out at the cove they were in and jumped down to her brother's level.

"We just made a pit-stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka said as he and Katara got to the ground.

"Aang, I know what you're planning. You are awesome!" Ariani said, jumping up and down.

"He's right. At this rate we won't get to the North Pole until spring," Katara said, continuing Sokka's argument without paying Ariani any mind.

"But Appa's tired already," Aang said. "Aren't ya boy?" When the bison didn't do anything Aang tried again. He nudged Appa with his elbow. "I said, aren't ya boy?" This time Appa yawned.

"Yeah, that was real convincing," Sokka said. "Still, hard to argue with a ten ton, magical monster."

Then Aang ran forward and pointed out at the bay. "Look!" Ariani stopped giggling at the Water Tribe boy to look at where her brother was pointing. An elephant koi crested out of the water, creating a wave when it submerged itself again. Katara and Sokka ran up to look too. "That's why we're here," Aang said, stripping to his underwear. "And I'm gonna ride one! Katara, you gotta watch me!"

He ran down the beach and dove into the water. Ariani followed suit after stripping down to her own underwear. It was cold! She and Aang both made sure to say so, too. They swam out to the deeper water and she followed her brother down. One of the koi was just jumping out of the water. Aang grabbed its fin and was tugged past his sister to the surface.

Ariani dove a little deeper until another one swam up, past her. She grabbed onto its fin and rode it to the surface as Aang had done. He was laughing and waving at their friends on shore. Ariani pulled on the fin enough to steer the fish around the one Aang was riding. A few other fish surfaced and started jumping along behind them. Ariani's fish jumped and dove beneath the waves again. Aang's followed hers shortly.

When they resurfaced, the girl noticed that Katara had run off. Aang noticed, too and his smile fell. She steered her fish into his and playfully stuck her tongue out. Then she zoomed past him and turned toward shore. The trick seemed to have worked and he gave chase.

Sokka caught her attention when he yelled something, but she couldn't make it out. Katara returned and they started yelling out to them frantically. Then Aang was flung off of his koi and thrown into the water. Ariani's dove and she let go.

When she surfaced it was darker, like the sun was being blocked by the clouds. She turned to look at about the same time Aang did, only to see a giant fin that definitely did not belong to an elephant koi. They both screamed and jumped out of the water. Before they could fall back in, they began running. One of the perks of being an airbender was that, when you were of a high enough level to learn, you can actually run as fast as the wind. Therefore, you can run on water.

The beast gave chase and it was closing in quickly. Before she knew what he was doing, Aang had grabbed Ariani and spun in a circle, flinging her to shore. She flew right into Sokka. She quickly sat up to look for Aang, when he flew right into them, knocking them both over again.

Katara ran over as Aang got up and started dressing while his sister dressed on the ground. "What was that thing?" she asked.

"I don't know!" Aang said.

"Well, let's not stick around to find out," Sokka said, pulling Ariani to her feet. "Time to hit the road."

Then, out of nowhere, a group of four people dove down and surrounded them. They were caught before they could even put up a fight. They were tied up and blindfolded, then thrown to the ground.

"Or, we could stay awhile," Sokka said, before they were hauled off.

**Sokka's P.O.V.**

When their captors had taken them to where they were intending, the group of travellers was tied to a post. Sokka could hear people approaching.

"You four have some explaining to do," a man said.

"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi," someone else added. It was a girl this time.

"Show yourself cowards!" Sokka yelled out. His blindfold was removed as he had asked. In front of him was a small group of girls in matching dresses and makeup. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" he asked.

"There were no men! We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" the girl in front answered.

"Wait a second! There's no way a bunch of girls took us down," Sokka said.

"A bunch of girls, huh?" the one that answered said, grabbing his coat collar. "The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight."

The threats didn't do much for him. There was no way in the world of the living or dead that any amount of girls could fight him. Without a sufficient amount of cheating anyway. Katara however, took the lame threat to heart.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it! My brother's just an idiot sometimes," she said quickly. Well, ow...

"It's my fault," Aang said, making the girl let go of Sokka's collar. "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" the old man in the group accused. "Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way!"

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" Aang said. "I know Kyoshi!"

"Hey! I do too!" Ariani cut in.

"Ha!" the old man laughed. "How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries!"

"I know her because I'm the avatar," Aang said.

"Hello! Do I even exist?" Ariani cut in again. "I am too!"

"That's impossible! The last avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!" the annoying girl said.

"That's me!" Aang said.

Ariani groaned. "And me!" she added.

"Throw the imposter to the Unagi!" the old man said, clearly not believing the twins. And really, could you blame him. Sokka himself didn't trust Aang at all when they first met and wouldn't have believed that he was a hundred and twelve year old airbender. Then learning that there were two of him? Both the avatar? Now that was barely believable at all. In fact, he wouldn't believe it if he hadn't seen Ariani airbend or fall out of the sky from the avatar state in the Southern Air Temple.

The girls opened their fans and began to advance. "Aang, Ariani, do some airbending," Katara murmured.

A burst of air from either side of Sokka's body alerted him to the twins taking off. He looked up to see them flip over the carving of Kyoshi and gently float down to the ground, each on the opposite side they started from. Everyone gasped.

"It's true," the old man whispered. "You are the avatar!" Ariani sighed again and hung her head.

"Now, check this out!" Aang said. Then he reached into his shirt and pulled out those marbles for that stupid trick of his again. And everyone went nuts. One guy in particular. Really? They got that excited over stupid marbles. Sokka had seen cooler stuff.

It took some prodding from Ariani before anyone remembered to untie him and Katara, which kind of annoyed him. Wasn't he important? When they had been released they were taken to the building at the highest point in the village. They spent the night there where he didn't get much sleep. Appa, who was gathered up by Ariani, was given a pile of hay and some people to groom him.

In the morning the group was given a feast of sweets. Normally he would be ecstatic, but the knowledge that a bunch of girls beat the stuffing out of him kind of put a damper on his appetite. While the others dug in and cheered over the food he just sat in the corner.

"Sokka, what's your problem? Eat!" Aang said. Ariani threw some fruit filled cake at him but he shooed it away. Momo grabbed it and ran off.

"Not hungry," he said.

"But you're always hungry!" Aang exclaimed.

"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday," Katara said.

"They snuck up on me!" Sokka defended.

"Right," Katara agreed. "And then they kicked your butt."

"Sneak attacks don't count!" he said, getting up to leave. "Tie me up with ropes!" he mumbled. Then he was thrown to the floor.

"Sneak attack!" Ariani yelled from on top of him.

He rolled over and pushed her off of him. Then he stormed out.

"I was just trying to lighten him up," he heard her say to the others as he left. Then he turned around and stormed back to the table. "I'm not scared of any girls! Who do they think they are anyway?" he said, grabbing an armful of food before leaving again. He stuffed a cake in his mouth. "This is tasty," he grumbled.

He walked around the village a bit, later seeing Aang swarmed by a bunch of girls. He huffed and walked the other way. Then he came upon a small dojo. Those dumb girls that snuck up on him were in there dancing around with their fans. He stepped inside.

"Sorry ladies, didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson! I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout," he said casually.

"Well, you're in the right place," the one with the short hair said. "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the avatar."

"It's the two of them actually. Both the airbenders are the avatar," Sokka amended. He knew Ariani would thank him later. "And it's alright. I mean normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls I'll make an exception."

"I should hope so," she said. "A big, strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance."

"True, but don't feel bad. After all I'm the best warrior in my village," Sokka said, glad they had come to an understanding. The best warrior thing wasn't exactly a lie either. His dad wasn't there so he was, in fact, the best warrior of the village.

"Wow, best warrior huh? In your whole village? Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration?"

That caught him off guard. He blinked. "Oh, well, I mean I-" he started.

"Come on girls, wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?" she asked, turning to the others. They all nodded and made various other yes type movements and noises.

"Well, if that's what you want. I'd be happy to," Sokka said. Perfect! Nothing was better than a chance to show off to a bunch of girls. "Alright, you stand over there," he said, pushing the girl back by the shoulders a bit. Then he took a few steps back. "Now, this may be a little tough but try to block me."

He took a step forward and raised his right arm for a downward swipe at her shoulder. She threw her arm up without moving an inch from her spot and caught him under his arm. That hurt! But he didn't show it. He rubbed at his arm a bit. "Good! Of course I was going easy on you," he said.

"Of course," she said slyly.

"Let's see if you can handle this!" he said, aiming a kick at her head. She ducked under his leg and hit his side, throwing him into the air. He landed flat on his back, only to see her open her fan to cool herself. Now that was condescending.

"That does it!" Sokka said, getting up and launching himself at her. Her fan was gone in the blink of an eye and the hand that was holding it was flat against his back. The other hand had grabbed his wrist and he was spun around three times in one direction, before she turned him the other way. He was bent over and his belt was removed. She quickly tied it around his wrist and the ankle of the foot that had flown in the air to keep him balanced, working against him. When he was let go he tried to stay upright, hopping on one foot until his balance failed him and he toppled onto his face.

"Anything else you want to teach us?" the girl laughed. Sokka felt like he was going to cry.

**Aang's P.O.V.**

"There she is girls. Me in a past life," Aang said to the small group that had followed him around all day.

They were all staring up at the restored statue of Avatar Kyoshi. It looked a lot better than it had yesterday. The girls all oohed and ahhed at it.

"You were pretty!" the girl on his right said. He looked down at her for a moment. That comment had reminded him of Katara.

"Excuse me for a second, ladies," he said, dashing off to the market. He walked up behind Katara and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him and smiled.

"Oh good!" she said. "Can you help me carry this back to the room? It's a little heavy and Ariani went off to buy a bit of fabric for me."

"Actually, I can't right now," Aang said.

"What do you mean you can't?" Katara frowned.

"I promised the girls I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun!" he offered.

"Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun," she said, picking up a few more vegetables to put into the basket she had.

"Well, neither does carrying your basket," he said.

"It's not my basket!" she said. "These supplies are for our trip! I told you we have to leave Kyoshi soon."

"I don't want to leave Kyoshi yet. I can't put my finger on it but there's something I really like about this place," Aang said.

"It's the giggling girls you have over there, 'Aang-y'," Ariani's voice said. He and Katara looked up to see his sister lounging on the roof of the stall. She jumped down with a few small bolts of cloth in her arms.

"Aang-y?" Katara asked.

"It's what they call him," Ariani said, gesturing to the group of girls still waiting for him.

"What's taking you so long, Aang-y?!" Koko yelled.

"See?" Ariani said.

Aang looked back and waved. "Just a second Koko!" he yelled back.

"Simple monk, huh?" Katara asked when he turned back around. "I though you promised me this avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head."

"It didn't. You know what I think? You just don't want to come because you're jealous!" he smiled.

"Jealous?! Of what?" Katara fumed.

"Jealous that we're having so much fun without you," Aang said.

"That's ridiculous!" she said.

"It is a little ridiculous, but I understand," he said. He didn't live with any girls apart from his sister, but he knew how they could get. There was no way he'd understand them soon, but he could anticipate them at least.

Katara glared at him and walked away with her basket. Ariani glared a bit as well, which surprised him, and turned on a gust of wind that blew him back a step. Before he had a chance to question it, he was swarmed by the girls that were waiting for him and pulled away. He led them up the hill to where he and his group were staying and called Appa out.

"Appa! Come here, boy!" he yelled.

The girls gasped at seeing his bison up close for the first time. They scrambled up his tail and Aang helped the smaller ones that were having trouble. When everyone was situated, he snapped the reigns and ordered the bison to take off. "Alright everyone, keep your hands and feet inside the saddle at all times and we can begin our tour of the skies!" he said enthusiastically.

He led Appa around the island, pointing out various things he had noticed while he was there. When the ride was over he excused himself to the bathroom and let the girls continue petting Appa. While they were distracted he slipped out of the back window and off into the woods. It was nice to have people to fawn over the types of things that he did every day. So, he was a bit of a show-off. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. However, he was feeling a bit smothered, hence sneaking off into the woods.

After a few minutes he came across a small building. The sign on the outside said it was a dojo. He walked around the side of it and glanced in through the door as he walked by. Sokka was in there with the group of girls that had ambushed them. And he was wearing a dress. Aang stepped back to look again and make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. No, Sokka was definitely in a dress.

"Hey, Sokka! Nice dress!" he chuckled, before ducking out and making a run for it.

When he was sure the other boy wasn't chasing him he slowed to a walk and headed back toward the village to find Katara and Ariani. They were in the room that had been prepared for them, practicing their bending. Aang smiled slyly before sauntering in.

"Katara, remember how the Unagi almost got me yesterday?" he said.

"Yeah," she said without turning to look at him.

"Well, I'm gonna go ride it now," he said.

Ariani froze for a second, but didn't turn around. Then she went back to her formations, airing out her clothes. It looked like she had recently gone swimming herself. But Katara didn't seem affected at all, so he continued. "It's gonna be _real_ dangerous," he said.

"Good for you," she said.

"You're not gonna stop me?" he asked, confused.

"Nope. Have fun," she said, almost uncaringly.

"I will!" he said.

"Great," she said.

"I know it's great!" he said, crossing his arms.

"Well, I'm glad you know," she said.

"I'm glad you're glad," he said back.

"Good!" she said.

"Will you just go and do this stupid thing already!" Ariani yelled.

"Fine!" he shouted.

Then he turned to stomp out, but paused to look back. Katara looked just the same and Ariani's shoulders were slumped. Didn't they even care how dangerous this was? He could really get hurt. But neither of them moved and he walked away.

**Katara's P.O.V.**

"Ariani, do you think we were too hard on him?" Katara asked, moments after Aang had left the room.

"I know he likes to show off, but I don't think you should have goaded him like that," the airbender answered.

"What? _I _shouldn't have goaded him?" she said.

"I meant we. _We_ should not have goaded him like that," she corrected.

"But, you don't think he'll actually do it. Right?" Katara asked.

"Aang's not stupid," Ariani said. "I'd give it an hour before he comes back to apologize. Normally it would be quicker, but he has his girls to impress."

Katara nodded, but she didn't feel too reassured. Ariani was Aang's sister and she would know him better than anyone. But that didn't comfort Katara very much. After three hours had passed, even Ariani was starting to look worried.

"Maybe we should go find him," Katara said.

When she looked over, Ariani was already out the window. Katara ran down the stairs and followed the other girl to the beach. When they arrived, Aang's fangirls were just leaving. He was, thankfully, safe and floating in the water not too far off shore.

"Katara! Ariani! You showed up!" he yelled happily.

"We wanted to make sure you were safe. You really had us worried," the waterbender said truthfully.

"Back there you acted like you didn't care," Aang said.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Me too. I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk," he said, sounding ashamed of himself.

"Of course you were!" Ariani said. "You always turn into a jerk when you let the attention go to your head!"

"Hey!" Aang whined.

Katara laughed at the siblings. She and Sokka were like that sometimes. Then she yelled out to Aang."Well get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!" she said happily.

"On my way!" Aang smiled, before starting the swim to shore.

As he neared the giant fin came out of the water again. It was the Unagi! Katara gasped in horror. As the creature surfaced Aang was lifted onto its back. It was the biggest serpent the Water Tribe girl had ever seen! And it was looking at Aang like he was its next course! It opened its mouth and shot a jet of water at him. When it subsided he was still there. Then it lunged at him. He jumped and caught it by the whiskers. The serpent swung its head back and forth, trying to dislodge Aang from its face.

"Hang on, Aang!" Katara yelled at the same time Ariani yelled out for her brother. That was about when he was thrown into the sky and landed in the water, halfway back to shore. He surfaced unconscious. "Aang!" the two girls yelled out as they ran into the water.

The Unagi dove and rapidly started making its way to the unconscious boy. Katara and Ariani frantically pushed forward with all their might. Ariani swung a fist at the water as they got to Aang, sending a blast of air at the aquatic beast. It was enough to stun it for a second. And a second was all Katara needed to grab onto Aang and send a blast of water out to sea, propelling them back toward shore. Ariani grabbed her brother's foot in time to catch the ride back.

The Unagi dove at them in a last ditch attempt, but missed. The wave gave them the extra push to shore and behind some rocks. Katara watched from behind the rocks as the Unagi furiously blasted jets of water at the land, trying to find them. After a few shots, it dove back under the water. When she looked to see what had scared it off, she was thinking that she would rather deal with the serpent again.

"Zuko!" she whispered. The ship was coming to port.

"Who? What?" Ariani asked, working over Aang.

"He's Fire Nation," Katara explained, moving over to help. "He's been chasing us since we found Aang at the South Pole, and he's bad news. It'll be even worse when he finds out that there's two avatars."

"Well he's coming this way!" Ariani hissed. "Duck!"

They went flat on their bellies and hugged Aang between them as the soldiers rode by on rhinos. This was bad. Not only for their party, but for the village. Zuko would raze it to the ground if he didn't find them first!

When they had gone by, Katara shifted Aang to his back. "Wake up, Aang!" she whispered. When he didn't respond she tried bending any water he might have swallowed. She ran her hand up his body and to his mouth where the water was expelled. He started coughing and then opened his eyes. Thank goodness he was okay!

"Katara," he said weakly, "don't ride the Unagi. Not fun."

"Aang, we don't have time!" Ariani cut in.

"She's right," Katara nodded. "Zuko is here."

Aang recovered quickly after that. He jumped to his feet and ran back to the beach to get his clothes. When he was dressed, the three ran back to the village. They arrived just in time to see Zuko take out two Kyoshi warriors and Sokka. Aang ushered Katara and Ariani away to help the others.

"Nice try avatar, but these little girls can't save you!" he said.

"Hey! Over here!" he yelled as the ran behind a building.

Katara looked back to see a fireball fly past. She knew that Aang could handle himself, so she ran around the corner to get some water. She ran by a street to see two girls cowering there. Katara quickly ran over to them and ushered them into the nearest house that wasn't on fire. Ariani ran past her as she was doing so.

"Ariani! Where are you going?" she yelled.

"To get Appa!" the girl yelled back. "You said he's been following you! If we leave, he will too!" Then she continued up the hill to where the bison was being held.

Aang was flying by and landed next to her. "Look what I brought to this place," he said sadly.

"It's not your fault," Katara said, trying to reassure him.

"Yes it is!" Aang said. "These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me and Ariani."

"Then let's get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us, like Ariani said. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way," Katara answered.

"I'll call Appa," Aang said, bowing his head.

"Already on it!" Ariani said, landing the bison.

The two crawled into the saddle with Momo and called Sokka over. He said a quick goodbye to Suki and then they were off. They flew right over Zuko to ensure he would see and follow them. And he did.

Aang looked exceedingly sad as they flew out, past the bay. "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would've destroyed the whole place if we stayed. They're gonna be okay Aang," Katara said, trying to comfort him.

Then he got a determined look on his face that she didn't like very much. Before she could ask, he dove off of the saddle and toward the bay.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled.

He hit the water and she and Sokka looked over the saddle nervously. A second later the water rippled and the Unagi burst to the surface. Aang had a hold on its whiskers and he waved around a bit before getting his footing on the serpent's head. Then he pointed it toward the flaming village and pulled back, causing the beast to spray water over the fire. The flames died down and when Aang let go, the Unagi tossed its head in an attempt to throw him. He jumped at just the right time and Ariani steered Appa down to catch him.

"I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous!" Aang said, as he crawled back into the saddle.

"Yes, it was," Katara smiled. She was proud of him though. She leaned forward and hugged him for what he did and through her relief that he was okay. She heard him sigh into her ear.

"Okay, now to get the Fire Nation off our tail!" Ariani said from the reigns, as they flew off toward the setting sun. "Where to next?"


End file.
